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Regulators
discipline three Valley brokers for securities violations
Securities
regulators announced they took disciplinary action recently against
three Valley brokers. Two of the three were permanently barred
from dealing with any licensed broker.
NASD,
formerly known as the National Association of Securities Dealers,
barred Aida Bakamovic, of Scottsdale, according to the association’s
November disciplinary report.
Bakamovic,
without admitting or denying the findings, consented to the sanction
and NASD’s findings that “she signed public customers’ names in
order to open bank accounts without the customers’ knowledge or
consent.”
NASD
barred Phoenix broker Daniel Alan Buchalter for 60 days and fined
him $7,500.
Without
admitting or denying the findings, Buchalter consented to the
sanctions and to the association findings that he “borrowed $15,000
from a public customer and failed to obtain his member firm’s
written permission prior to borrowing the customer’s money.” The
findings also stated that “Buchalter failed to disclose the loan
when completing an annual compliance questionnaire that asked,
among other things, whether he had ever accepted a loan from a
customer.” The suspension is in effect from Nov. 20, 2006 through
Jan. 18.
NASD
also barred Phoenix broker Daniel Diaz “based on findings that
Diaz submitted fictitious account applications to his member firm
and received $1,700 in commissions based on those fraudulent applications,”
the association reported.
Diaz
also failed to respond to NASD requests for information.
Scottsdale
investment office to hold free workshops
The
Scottsdale Merrill Lynch office announced it will hold a series
of free workshops on retirement strategies.
The
first workshop, Women in Retirement, will be held Jan. 16; the
second workshop, Managing Income for a Secure Retirement, will
be held Jan. 31; and the third workshop, IRA Rollover Strategies,
will be held Feb. 6.
All
sessions will start at 4 p.m. at the Las Piedras Clubhouse, 32710
N. 74th Way, located at Ashler Hills and Scottsdale Road.
Reservations
are required and can be made by calling (480) 607‑8743.
Troon
market gets new name
The
owners of the Villages at Pinnacle Peak announced last week they
have changed the center’s name to the Shops at Crescent Moon Ranch.
In
a news release statement, Douglas daCosta, Principal of Geoffrey
H. Edmunds Realty, said, “We chose to rename the location The
Shops at Crescent Moon Ranch because it has a history as a former
dude ranch called Crescent Moon Ranch in the 1940s.”
The
farmer’s market at the newly renamed center will be open from
9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Jan. 13 and Jan. 27. The market is located
at 10428 E. Jomax Rd.
The
Arizona Community Farmer’s Market Group sponsors the market which
features local produce, specialty food items such as salsas, dressings,
jellies, breads, Mediterranean specialties, and a wide selection
of local artisan crafts. For more information, visit www.shopsatcrescentmoonranch.com.
by
J.W. Elphinstone
Associated
Press
From
where will hail the next Bill Gates?
Seattle
produced technology great Bill Gates, but where will his successor
come from? Not here, most Americans said in a recent survey.
Nearly
half of Americans said that the next great technology leader
will come from China or Japan, while just one in five believe
he or she will hail from the United States. Thirteen percent
think India will produce the next tech great.
Zogby
International and 463
Communications released the survey.
“The
next Bill Gates has already
been born, and time will tell what country is providing the
environment of innovation, entrepreneurialism and opportunity
to enable him or her to flourish with the next great idea,”
said 463 partner Tom Gavin.
The
survey also showed that Americans overwhelmingly believe that
the average 12‑year‑old knows more about the World
Wide Web than their Congressman.
Two‑thirds
of Americans also believe that the Internet will be accessible
anywhere in the world in the next ten years.
But
for all the change the Internet has created and will create,
only one‑third of Americans said it’s a greater invention
than the printing press.
The
survey polled 1,203 adults by telephone in December.
Never
stop hunting for that dream job
It’s
a new year and you’re ready for a fresh start to your work life,
but you’re not sure what you want. Finding your dream job doesn't
have to be a chore, according
to one expert.
“The
‘dream job’ tends to be an elusive thing for a lot of people,”
said career coach Cynthia Shapiro and author of “Corporate Confidential:
50 Secrets Your Company Doesn’t Want You to Know.” “People put
too much pressure on themselves to figure it out and often they
look for something too specific.”
To
figure out your dream job and how to get it, Shapiro offers
the following tips:
·
Clarity: Often the most important part of your dream job isn’t
just the job function, but other aspects. Maybe you want child
care down the hall from your office or you want to live in certain
part of the country. Focus on what makes you personally happy
and fulfilled, and look for positions and companies that offer
that.
·
Courage: “You could be the person that talks about getting your
dream job at parties, or you can get out and do it,” Shapiro
says. Don’t let comfort in your work routine keep you from looking
for something else.
·
Constantly search: Most people only look for their dream jobs
when they’re looking for a job.
“It’s
very difficult to find a dream job when you’re worrying about
paying the bills,” Shapiro said. “And what are the chances that
you’ll find your dream job in that three‑month window
when you’re looking for a job? You need to search every single
day.”
Financial
fortune tellers look at 2007
After
consulting their crystal balls, most financial professionals
are predicting modest growth in the new year, according to a
recent survey from the Association for Financial Professionals.
Nearly
half of respondents expect business conditions in 2007 to remain
the same as last year, while nearly one‑third think conditions
will improve. Only one in five professionals said business conditions
will deteriorate this year.
Employment
has an equally upbeat outlook. Forty‑six percent of professionals
said their organizations intend to hire more personnel in the
United States, while 37 percent report that their organizations
will maintain its current staffing levels. Only 13 percent expect
their work force to shrink.
Those
surveyed aren’t very worried about out‑of‑control
inflation this year. Respondents predict consumer prices will
rise by a modest 1.8 percent this year.
However,
68 percent of financial professionals remain concerned about
volatile energy prices hindering economic growth, while 59 percent
are worried about the falling value of the dollar. Rising health
care costs also came in as a top concern.
The
AFP polled 667 financial professionals in November and December.
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